Oil well blowing apparatus



Sept. 28,1948. J. B. HAWLEY, JR 2,450,140

OIL WELL BLOWING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 23, 1944 Z 4 1 m w A 3. 1V8 y; 7.F 3 5 5 42 g a .5 a l a ||LP 1l|| 4 nllll 3 1::

[700.2% 2302' Jan N ,5? Ha WLE rare Patented Sept. 1948 OIL WELL BLOWINGAPPARATUS John Blackstock Hawley, .n-., Minneapolis; Minn,

asslgnor to Northern Ordnance Incorporated, Minneapolis, Minn., acorporation of Minnesota I Application October 23, 1944; Serial No.559,970

It is another object of the invention to pro--v vide an apparatus forblowing oil from an oil well by periodically blowing charges of oilthrough a discharge pipe and-regulating the quantity of oil discharged.By having means for regulating the quantity of oil discharged a numberof wells can be connected and simultaneously blown by supplying thecompressed air through a single main conduit which is connected bysuitable conduits to the various wells.

It is still another object of the invention 'to provide an apparatus forblowing oil from an oil well providing a casingadjacent the oil supplyhaving an inlet opening for oil from said oil-sup- Dly. a discharge pipeleading from said chamher, a vessel to which said discharge pipe.delivers oil, a delivery pipe leading from said vessel and, means forvarying the position of said delivery pipe in said vessel to vary theamount of oil which can be discharged into said vessel.

These and other objects and advantages oi the invention will be fullyset forth 'in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a verticalcentral section through the- Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

- Fig. 3 a partial vertical section through the oil receiving membershowing a modification.-

Referring to the drawings a portion of an oil bearing strata or sand'isshown at ID in which.

will be the cavity or well ll shown as having the casing 9 therein atits upper end, which casing willextend to the surface of the ground. Anoil receiving member or reservoir I2 is provided which will be set intothe earth at or adjacent the strata ill, the upper portion of member l2being disposed in the well It so as to be surrounded by the body of oil13 which accumulates from the strata l0. While member l2 could be madein various forms, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated it isshown as a substantially cylin- Y drical tank having a lower portion I2a which portion 12b. Portion l2b has an opening l2c inthe side thereofadjacent its top from which a passage l2d leads upwardly and thendownwardly 11 Claims. (Cl. 103-234) to a valve cage It held in place byor formed on a flanged lug l5 threaded into the lower end of portionl2b. A collar I8 is shown'above cage M having a valve seat at its lowerside adapted to be engaged by a ball valve IS. A pipe l9 extendsdownwardly from plug i5 some distance into the. portion l2a. Portion nois centrally bored and threaded at its upper end to receive a pipe orconduit 20. At its lower end within portion I2b conduit 20 communicateswith a chamber' l2e from which a passage l2i leads downwardly to the.bottom-oi portion I2b, thus communicating with the interior of portion[2a.

. Conduit 20.extends to the surface of the ground in whichthe well islocated and is threaded into a connection member 22. 'Member 22 has achamber 22a therein with which communicates. a pipe or.conduit 23threaded into member 22. Pipe 23 will be connected to a source ofcompressed air or point adjacent the bottom of member l2. Pipe 23extends upwardly througlr'member 22 and member 22 is provided with apacking recess at its top adapted to receive packing 21 which will beheld in place by-a packing gland 28 adapted to be secured and moved bybolts not shown. Pipe is secured in the top of a vessel 30 andcommunicates with the interior thereof. While vessel 30 could bevariously formed, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated it isshown as a tank of general cylindrical form, the same having a somewhatrounded bottom and a sump recess 30a at its bottom closed by a cover 3|which will preferably be removable. A discharge pipe 32 is disposed invessel 30 and has anend portion 32a bent at an angle to its portion 32b,which latter is secured in a member 33. Member 33 has a cylindricalportion-disposed in a boss 30a of vessel 30, which portion is rotatableY in said boss and member 33 has a flange engaged by a packing andsealing member 34 secured to the boss 30a in any suitable manner. Member33 can be rotated by means of a handle 35 secured thereto. Another pipe33a has one end threaded into member 33 and its other end threaded intoone member 360 or a pipe union 36. Union 36 comprises anouter interiorlythreaded member 33b into which'member 38a is threaded and a third memberltc h aving a flange disposed within the end flange or member 33b andcontacting member No. A pipe 33b is threaded into member 38c and extendsto a valvecasing 3L Valve casing 31 is provided with a valve seat 3111adapted to be engaged by the upper end of a vertically movable valve 38having a flange 38a at its lower end. A compression coiled spring 48surrounds valve 38 and bears against flange 38a, the same bearing at itsother end against the top 01' a chamber 31b and thus acting to holdvalve 38 normally in open position. Valve casing '31 has a chamber 310below flange 38a with which communicates a pipe 38 which is connected atits other end to member 22 and communicates with chamber 22a therein.The chamber 310 has an opening at its lower end communicating with a petcock 4| secured in the lower end of casing 31. A pipe 42 is connected'tocasing 31 and has a downwardly directed end adapted to discharge into anoil receiving reservoir 43 supported upon legs 43a resting upon thesurface of the ground.

In operation pipe 23 will constitute an air line which will extend to acentral control station. The apparatus will form part of a systemcontrolling possibly 15 to 100 wells, each of which will be equippedwith the apparatus shown. A pipe 23 will extend to each one of the wellsand as stated, these pipes will be controlled from a central station.The oil I3 will accumulate in the chamber II and will pass throughopening I2c into passage I2d through collar I-B, cake I4, member I andpipe I9 into tank or reservoir I2 and will accumulate in the bottomthereof as shown in Fig. 1 until such time as the oil is discharged. Thehandle 35 will be turned to bring the end of portion 32a. of pipe 32 tothe desired position. It will'be seen that as member 33 is rotated pipe32 will be rotated. In Fig. 1 pipe 32 is shown as having its portion 32asubstantially horizontal. Portion 32a could extend upwardly as indicatedin dotted lines and could also extend downwardly as also indicated indotted lines in Fig. 1. When pipe portion 32a is horizontal as shown inFig. 1, then oil can be discharged from vessel 30 above said pipe but acertain amount of oil will be retained in vessel 30 below saidpipeportion. it

will be seen that the portion of oil retained in vessel 30 can be variedby varying the position of pipe portion 32a. In one installation whenthe end of portion 32a is at its lowest-position one barrel of 011 couldbe discharged from vessel 30. When the end of portion 32:; is in theposition shown in Fig. 1, a half barrel could be discharged. After aperiod when oil is accumulated in reservoir I2 the operator at thecentral station will turn air under pressure into pipe 23. While thispressure could be varied as desired, in practice a pressure used hasbeen equal to the weight of the column of oil in pipe 25 plus 50 pounds.When air is thus turned into pipe 23 it passes through chamber 22adownwardly in pipe 20, through passage I2 I and air pressure is imposedon top of full barrel could bedischarged into vessel 30 or pipe portion32a could be disposed so that less than one-half of a barrel could bedischarged into vessel 30. The position to which pipe 32a is set willdepend on the flow in the individual well. It will be seen that when airpressure is turned into pipe 23 it will pass from chamber 22a I 4through pipe 33 into passage 31c and will force upwardly and close valve38. This will close the discharge pipes 33b and 42 so that no oil canpass it to discharge and it can also discharge by a syphon action. Theoil will flow out of vessel until it reaches the level at which the endof pin portion 32ais' set. The desired portion is thus discharged fromthe well and from vessel 30. Any sediment collecting in vessel 30 canbe. removed by removing cover 3i and any sediment collecting in chamber31c can be discharged by opening pet cock 4|. The U-shaped passage [2d.acts to form a sand trap to prevent the entry of sand into the memberI2. The thread on portions I20 and I2b is made left handed so thatportion I2b can be removed and when it is turned it will not loosen thethreaded connection of pipes 20 and 25; When the device is assembled thetightening of parts I2a and I2b at their threaded connection will notloosen the threaded connection of pipes 20 and 25 but will tighten thesame.

In Fig. 3 a modification is shown in which a valve casing 48 is providedand secured to the lower end of pipe 2-6. A plug 481s threaded on thelower end of pipe 26 and has a projecting flange at its lower endengaged by the upper end 'of casing 48. A connecting ring 47 is threadedon member 48 and has a flange at its top overlying the top of the flangeon member 48; Casing 46 comprises a ca e in which is disposed a ballvalve 48 adapted to seat against 'a valve seat at the upper end of anopening 46a extending-through the bottom of casing 49.

The structure shown in Fig. 3 is provided for low capacity wells. Afterthe oil has been discharged upwardly through pipe 23 as above describedand the air pressure is shut off from pipe 23 the column of oil in pipe26 will act to close valve49 so that said column will not drain backinto member l2. Said column of oil will thus only have to be liftedonce.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a verysimple and efficient apparatus for discharging a predetermined quantityof oil from a number of wells. The discharging operation can be easilyand conveniently controlled from a central station as above described.Also as above stated, the'amount of oil discharged from each well canbevaried in accordance with the flow and productivity of said well. It isapparent that the device will have a high degree of utility for thepurpose intended.

It will of course be understood that various changes may be made in theform, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, withoutdeparting from the scope of applicant's invention, which generallystated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects aboveset forth in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for blowing an oil well having in combination, a memberadjacent the oil supply having a chamber therein and an inlet openingfor the entry of oil from said supply into said chamber, means forclosing said opening by pressure in said chamber, a discharge conduitfor oil extending into said chamber, a pipe through which air underpressure can be periodically supplied to said chamber for actuating saidmeans, a vessel into which said oil is delivered from said dischargeconduit and means for varying the eii'ective capacity of said vessel toreceive oil and thus to control the amount of oil which can be deliveredto said vessel and thus the oil discharged from said chamber.

2. An apparatus for blowing an oil well having in combination, a memberadjacent the oil supp y having a chamber therein and an inlet openingfor the entry of oil from said supply into said chamber, means forclosing said-opening by pres- 6 well including a discharge conduit avessel to which said conduit is connected and towhich oil issupplied, anoutlet conduit connected to said vessel having an inlet end in saidvessel and means for varying the position of said inlet end'to determinethe maximum amount of oil which can be discharged from said vessel andthus the amount of residual oil left in said vessel. said residual oilthus varying the receiving capacity of sure in said chamber, a dischargeconduit for oil extending into said chamber, a pipe through which airunder pressure can be periodically sup.- plied to said chamber foractuating said means, a vessel into which said 011 is delivered fromsaid discharge conduit. a discharge means in said ves-. sel and meansfor varying the position of said discharge means for varying the amountof oil retained in said vessel and thus varying the receiving capacityof said vessel and the amount of oil that can be delivered to saidvessel.

3. An apparatus for blowing an oil well havin j in combination, a memberadjacent the oil supply having a chamber therein and an inlet open-- in:for the entry of oil into said chamber, means for forcing the oil out ofsaid chamber by air under pressure. a vessel into which said 011 isdischarged, a delivery pipe extending from said vessel, a valve in saiddelivery pipe constructed and arranged to be closed by air underpressure when the latter is supplied to said chamber whereby oil cannotbe delivered from said vessel with said valve closed and means forvarying the position of said delivery pipe in said vessel to retaindifierent quantities of oil in said vessel.

4. An apparatus for blowing an oil well havin in combination, a memberadjacent the oilsupply having a chamber therein and an inlet opening forthe entryof oil into said chamber, means for closing said opening bypressure in said chamber, a conduit extending to adjacent the top ofsaid chamber. a discharge conduit for oil extending to adjacentthebottom of said chamber, means for supplying air under pressure tosaid first mentioned conduit to force oil from said chamber through saiddischarge conduit, a vessel to which said discharge conduit is connectedinto which oil is discharged and means for varying the eifectivecapacity of said vessel to receive oil to thus control the amount of oilwhich can be delivered thereto and thus removed from said chamber andwell.

5. An apparatus for blowing an oil well having in combination, a memberadjacent the oil supply having a chamber therein and an inlet opensaidvessel and controlling the amount of oil discharged thereinto.

7. An apparatus for blowing an oil well having in combination, a vesselfor containing 011, a pipe connected to said vessel, means for forcingoil from said well through said pipe into said vessel j having an inletend whereby said end may be dising for the entry of oil into saidchamber, a conduit extending to adjacent the top of said chamber, adischarge conduit for oil extending to adjacent the bottom of saidchamber, a third conduit for supplying air under pressure connected tosaid first mentioned conduit, a vessel to which said discharge conduitis connected adapted to contain various residues of oil. an outlet fromsaid vessel. a valve in said outlet. a fourth conduit connecting saidthird conduit and said outlet for operating said valve to close thesame, said-valve being normally open. a

8. An apparatus for blowing an oil well having in combination, means forforcing oil from said posed at different levels in said vessel by saidrotation of said discharge pipe to vary the maximum amount of oil whichwill be retained therein and thus to vary the effective receivingcapacity of said vessel to thus control the amount of oil forced fromsaid well.

8. The structure set forth in claim 7, a valve in said discharge pipe,said valve being normally open and means for closing said valve by airpressure when oil is forced into said vessel.

9. An apparatus for blowing an oil well having in combination, means forforcing oil from said well including a discharge conduit, a vessel to"conduit connected to said tank, a second conduit adapted to carry airunder pressure and connected to said tank for forcing oil from said tankthrough said discharge conduit, a vessel to which said discharge conduitis connected and into which said oil is discharged, and means forvarying the effective capacity of said vessel to receive oil for thuscontrolling the amount of oil discharged into said vessel and from saidtank.

11. The structure set forth in claim 9, said means including a dischargepipe connected to said vessel. a passage connecting said second conduitand said discharge pipe, and a. valve in said discharge pipe arranged tobe closed by pressure of air in said second conduit and passage toprevent discharge of oil from said vessel while oil is being dischargedthereinto.

JOHN BLACKSTOCK HAWLEY, Ja.

REFERENCES crrnn The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 350,761 Neil Oct. 12, 1886364,084 Boals May 31, 1887 919,416 Boulicault Apr. 27, 1909 964,693Richardson July 19, 1910 1,210,988 Rosendahl Jan. 2, 1917 1,839,405

McCabe Jan. 5, 1932

